Ellen Pompeo Explains the Real Reason Behind Grey's Anatomy Exit
"This is like me like going away to college." Grey's Anatomy leading actress explains why she decided to say goodbye to the ABS medical show.
With its whooping 19 seasons and 400 episodes, Grey's Anatomy is one of the longest-running television series and the longest-running prime-time medical drama in history.
"To put it into perspective: When Grey's Anatomy was new, House, Scrubs, Six Feet Under, Fringe, Battlestar Galactica, Alias, JAG, CSI: Las Vegas, The Closer, Smallville, Gilmore Girls were still new," a fan wrote on Reddit commenting on the length of the show, "Grey's Anatomy outlived them all."
This unbelievable and quite successful run is set to continue but soon without its lead character Meredith Grey. Ellen Pompeo, the actress behind the titular character, announced earlier this year she would appear on 8 episodes of Season 19 and then exit the show. Meredith's farewell episode will air in February following the mid-season break.
After that, Pompeo will appear in the season's finale and continue doing voiceover narration and occasional cameos. Besides, the actress continues to serve as an executive producer of the show.
As for the reasons why Pompeo exits the medical drama that made her one of the world's highest-paid actors, she explained to ET earlier that her primary motivation was her new yet untitled Hulu project based on a bizarre real-life story of an orphan who was claimed to be an adult sociopath by her adoptive parents. Ellen Pompeo will both star in the limited series and executive produce it.
However, the new project is not the only reason for the actress to leave Grey's Anatomy. She shared with Drew Barrymore earlier this week that being on a 19-season show since day one has become too tiresome for her. Apparently, the 53-year-old actress felt stuck in her job and needed to move on.
"I gotta do something new," the actress explained. "19 years, that's more than people keep their kids in their house, like people keep their kids in their house until they're 18 and then they send them off to college. So this is like me like going away to college."
Pompeo added that besides her new Hulu project, she was going to focus on her family life and taking care of her kids. Ellen Pompeo shares three children with her husband Chris Ivery.